HELLO AND WELCOME! Before you can post your question, you'll have to register -- it's completely free and registered users see less advertising! If you just want to browse through the existing questions, just select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Otherwise, click here to register!. We highly recommend that you print a copy of our Guide for New Members. Enjoy!

Rachana Malayalam - Linux OS ?

Rachana Malayalam was released on Feb 16 , 2006 .

What is it really ? kindly discuss.

Computer operating system in Malayalam launched :
Thiruvananthapuram: Rachna, billed as the first computer operating system in Malayalam language and the first such system in a regional language in the country, was launched here Thursday.

The operating system, developed by four people in Kerala, is in the Linux platform and is an open software. The software will make multimedia operations and chat possible in Malayalam.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the launch, K.H. Hussain, the team leader, said: "This unique system comes at a time when even Microsoft is still working on a Malayalam operating system."

"We had discussions with them but they still are working on the issue of a Malayalam script," said Hussain, who works as a librarian in an autonomous institute in Trissur.

"This has come after close to nearly three years of working on the Rachna font under GPL (General Public License) on the original Malayalam script that was developed in the late nineties," said N. Gangadharan, a team member.

He said the biggest advantage of this operating system is that henceforth advanced computing in Malayalam will be possible.

"Before we launch it in the market we want feedbacks so as to incorporate more things, including a spell check," added Gangadharan, who works in the Malayalam Lexicon department of Kerala University.

Among the features of this new operating system include the opening of any MS Office file, to make any file into PDF format, and for the first time sorting is possible in Malayalam.

The other two members of the team are J. Chitraja Kumar, a colleague of Gangadharan, and Rajiv Sebastian, a 24-year-old engineer.

Friends and well-wishers of the team members, mostly students and teachers of Malayalam, attended the function.

This is interesting. I've read in many places that one of the key attractions of Linux is the ability for countries to tailor it to local languages. It is especially useful in countries with large ethnic minorities that speak different languages.

There has been notable Linux localization successes in South Africa, Namibia, and Macedonia in recent months.

Is this a national effort or just confined to what appears to be a university? It must have been a lot of work for such a small team to get the beta version done. Any word on how it will get support in the future?